Econocom Group NV

What a frustrating experience trying to visit Econocom, an IT
infrastructure management concern with revenues in 2004 of 822
million euros and over 1,700 employees. Staying at the Renaissance
Brussels Hotel and looking over several street maps of Brussels
I'm plotting with marks on maps the various locations of companies
being visited. It turns out the address for Econocom Group is
the street right behind the hotel.

The next morning I enter the courtyard area of a large nine-story,
red brick apartment complex with retail and office space on the
ground floor. The address takes me to a small room and the only
way I know this is the right address is because of the name Econocom
on a three inch long decal on the door. I see several people
inside. This can't possibly be the place. I knock on the door
and luckily one of the guys speaks English. I explain who I am
and how I mailed a letter of introduction a month ago to CEO
& Chairman Jean-Louis Bouchard. at this address. The guy
walks me across the courtyard to a small cluster of Econocom
offices and though this is the registered office, Bouchard hasn't
had an office here for several years. Where did my letter go?
Was it forwarded to the other office? Why couldn't someone at
the company have sent me a simple email saying my letter was
received but the head office is elsewhere?

The new address I'm given is 510 Leuvenstrasse and from the map
it looks to be only about three miles away so off I go. I spend
an hour looking for the address and guess what? there is a 500
block of Leuvenstrasse but no number 510. Why was I given an
incorrect address? What kind of sloppy organization is CEO Bouchard
running? Bouchard founded Econocom in 1982 and controls 50% of
this publicly-traded company.

Before leaving Brussels I figure out the problem. The address
for 510 Leuvenstrasse is in the town of Zaventem (next to the
airport) and NOT the Leuvenstrasse in Brussels. Unfortunately
for me but maybe fortunately for Econocom my tight schedule prevents
checking it out. Then again, if you go to the company's website
www.econocom.com and click on their list of worldwide office
locationsit shows the address I first went to "Clos
du Parnasse 13 A/B" as being the head office of Econocom
Group.